UN on Azerbaijan's Initiative Adopted Resolution against COVID-19

Baku/24.03.21/Turan: On March 23, 2021, within the framework of the 46th session of the UN Human Rights Council, at the initiative of Azerbaijan, as the chairman of the Non-Aligned Movement, a resolution was adopted “Ensuring equal, reasonable pricing, timely and universal access to vaccines against COVID-19".

According to the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry, the resolution focuses on the negative impact of the issue of unfair and unequal distribution of vaccines against COVID-19 between developed and developing countries on the use of human rights and emphasizes that this is one of the main obstacles in the complete elimination of the pandemic, as well as in achieving the goals of the UN Sustainable Development Agenda.

The resolution, in particular, emphasizes the importance of the special session of the UN General Assembly dedicated to the COVID-19 pandemic, held on December 3-4, 2020 at the initiative of the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan as chairman of the Non-Aligned Movement.

The resolution is addressed to UN Member States and other relevant agencies (international organizations, private sector representatives, civil society, etc.) calls for appropriate measures to be taken to ensure equitable distribution of COVID-19 vaccines among all states. At the same time, while expressing support for international initiatives created to support the equitable distribution of vaccines, including the COVAH initiative, the resolution calls on all states to remove unnecessary barriers to the export of vaccines to other countries.

In total, 133 states supported the resolution. Among the co-authors are countries located in different regions of the world, with sharply differing economic indicators and belonging to different political groups. To reach a consensus on the adoption of the resolution, negotiations were held in Geneva for a long time in the framework of the UN Human Rights Council.

Note that, in accordance with the initiative of President Ilham Aliyev, this resolution was previously adopted on March 5, 2021 by the Coordination Bureau of the Non-Aligned Movement, operating in New York, in a communiqué on the relevant topic. —0—